HOBART - A statewide group of 800 building industry contractors endorsed Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley during a campaign stop at a construction site Monday.

Associated Builders and Contractors of Wisconsin announced its support for Bradley during her visit to the future site of The Driveway, a 10,000-square-foot basketball training center under construction in Hobart. ABC Midwest Region Vice Chairman Steve Klessig, who works for Keller Inc., said Bradley’s judicial philosophy aligns with the construction industry association’s positions on merit-based contracts, free market values and open competition.

“For us to succeed, we need to know that the law is the law and that it won’t be changed in the courts based on a political whim,” Klessig said. “She believes it is the role of justice to impart the law, not invent it. We need a court that will do just that.”

Replay: Livestream interview with Kloppenburg

Bradley was appointed to the state’s Supreme Court by Gov. Scott Walker in the fall following the death of Justice Patrick Crooks. She faces appeals court judge JoAnne Kloppenburg in the April 5 election for a 10-year term on the state’s highest court.

State Supreme Court elections are supposed to be nonpartisan, but Bradley and Kloppenburg have both been targets of partisan attacks and endorsements during the campaign.

Bradley said agriculture and business groups across the state have endorsed her candidacy without regard to political affiliation.

“The one commitment I’ve made to voters in Wisconsin is that I will always follow the law regardless of how I feel about the law or outcome in a particular case,” Bradley said. “I think that is what most people and most businesses want from their judges and justices in Wisconsin.”